Label Removal Thread - Page 22

Tiredboy · 01-05-2012, 01:36 PM

I posted this in a another thread and it may have been posted here but what worked for me is a short soak (minute or so) in warm water, rub with some damp fine wet-and-dry paper, rinse in warm water. I needed to repeat the process for some that had stubborn labels but the process worked really well, including removing stubborn labels, foil and glue residue. I now have a nice selection of new looking bottles. I even set up a family production line - good "family time"!!

For attaching my own labels I used the milk trick - worked well and no problem of not sticking or staying on when I wanted to remove them (although I did need to soak them in more milk than I expected). I used UHT long life fat free milk if that makes any difference!

All I need now is a way to remove the painted labels from redstripe bottles as I can get those REALLY easily!!

xkristoferx · 01-05-2012, 11:48 PM

If there's any left over glue on the bottle, a SOS pad takes the glue right off without any hard scrubbing.

Its a hard life having to drink all that beer to make those bottles empty but, hell, someone has to do it.

Kate00 · 01-07-2012, 01:23 AM

5 gallon bucket with a few tablespoons of PBW. soak for a day or so, the labels fall right off.

**FarmerTed** · 01-07-2012, 02:45 AM

Drink Fullers. The bottles are cool (and really heavy), and the labels fall off after soaking in warm water for ~ 5 min.

Ceetar · 01-07-2012, 02:48 AM

The #1 way to get labels off is to offer homebrew to your friends if they save and de-label leftover bottles for you.

**drewneely** · 01-09-2012, 11:40 PM

Oxiclean, warm water and a 2 hours soak. May need to use a Scotch-Brite pad for some stubborn glue but will come right off with very litle effort. Most labels slip right off.

ringatom · 02-03-2012, 03:26 AM

5 - 20 minutes in Cold water, and a knife. usually the labels are really easy to peel after soaking in water, Molson Canadian, and Budweiser. Labatt Blue and Keith's Not so easy.

najel · 02-13-2012, 06:26 PM

Sorry if I repost, but I have to admit I did not read all 22 pages of this post.
My method: soak in cold water overnight usually, then peel labels off. If residue is left, I use a hardbristled brush and go over it, usually takes everything off.
And by the way in my experience it seems that bottles that were meant to be reused instead of "just" recycled for glass are easier to deal with. For example, Warsteiner is the easiest label to take off, they always come off in one piece, same for many other German beers.

**Fennis** · 02-13-2012, 06:53 PM

I've found for the labels that leave behind a sticky residue, rubbing alcohol works really well most of the time, but for the absolute worst labels that seem to really be stubborn, use acetone, which if you have a wife/girlfriend should be somewhere in your house as nail polish remover. Between the two, I've never had a label get the best of me, but make sure you are in a ventilated area, and if you have a lot of bottles, use gloves, acetone can do some damage to your skin if you have it on your skin for an extended period of time.

ayoungrad · 02-13-2012, 07:05 PM

DO NOT WASTE money, time, or chemicals.

I used to have trouble removing labels. But not anymore. The easiest, fool-proof way to remove labels (which was probably mentioned somewhere above) takes one hour or less:

Put a good amount of baking soda in hot water in a sink or pail. Fill all bottles with hot water. Soak for 1 hour. After an hour soak, the labels literally slide off, whole and intact. Any residue wipes with a sponge with no effort at all.

I really don't measure the amount of baking soda - just make the water look a little murky. But baking soda is so cheap that you shouldn't be afraid to use too much.

This works for even really tough bottles. If anyone has ever tried to remove a Smuttynose Big A IPA label, this method works even for those bottles.